The discipline of orienting your brain; to compose yourself so you are ready to focus and learn, begins even before entering the dance class – from the moment children take off their shoes and socks and arrange them neatly instead of flinging them just anywhere,” notes Dr. Swapnokalpa Dasgupta, Head of Dance at the NCPA.

Nrityaparichay, a CSR initiative of the NCPA, imparts dance training to children from less privileged sectors. Dasgupta approaches this year-long programme as a multi-dimensional learning model that grooms school students physically, intellectually and spiritually through dance. Hers is a farsighted vision, of moulding future citizens who have an aesthetic eye, who appreciate subtlety and understand the value of seeking in-depth knowledge in whatever career paths they may eventually choose.

These efforts are slowly coming to fruition as evidenced by the promising careers of two performers, Mayuri Jadhav and Ruchi Yadav, whose enduring association with Nrityaparichay has paved the way for them to become artistes and teachers themselves. Today, they impart lessons to students under Nrityaparichay furthering Dasgupta’s aim of creating facilitators out of erstwhile students and making schools self-reliant to run this initiative sustainably.

Encouraging potential

As the name suggests, Nrityaparichay introduces schoolchildren as young as 12 and 13 to multiple Indian folk and classical dances. The programme was launched in 2016 and, over the last eight years, it has mobilised a massive community of artistes who head to several schools across Mumbai and teach children the fundamentals of dances like Manipuri, Odissi, Kathak and Bharatanatyam. At least 50 children comprise each batch out of which Mayuri and Ruchi were two students spotted by their teachers as having the potential to craft a career in the performing arts. They appeared for a diploma exam after three years of continued learning and today, have become a part of their instructors’ performing troupes showcasing their art at prestigious events like the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. The challenge with this endeavour, Dasgupta concedes, is the difficulty in procuring CSR funding for the arts when more efforts are dedicated, and understandably so, towards providing basic facilities like schooling, medicine or nutrition to children from tough backgrounds. Yet, Dasgupta has been instrumental in communicating the overall prospects of a career in the performing arts by curating a learning model that primarily opens opportunities for children to understand the earning potential in performance and teaching. Both these aspiring professionals have been embracing such opportunities that also secure their financial stability.

Introducing classical forms

The process of initiating children into the realm of classical art forms is a gradual one. Performing a trained dance makes demands on the body, Dasgupta notes. So, a sudden plunge into a classical genre might prove difficult. Keeping this in mind, in 2016, Nrityaparichay directed students towards simply exploring different movements and constituted lessons on Indian folk and martial art forms, including instruction in Kalaripayattu, Garba and the Manipuri folk form, Lai Haraoba for three months each.

Manipuri stalwart Latasana Devi came aboard to induct young dancers like Ruchi into the northeastern folk idiom. Dasgupta reminds us that when children f irst learn about the Seven Sisters in class, they often struggle to differentiate one northeastern state from the other. The dance lessons integrated classroom learning with Lai Haraoba and, in time, the martial art Thang-ta, that became entry points for students to know more about Manipur. In the following year, children began to sway to Odissi and Manipuri compositions, learning the fundamentals of the classical styles and appreciating how repeated practice was sculpting their skill.

Through Nrityaparichay, a love for the stage is nurtured in the students by bringing them to the NCPA to watch two dance performances of global repute each year. “This is an opportunity for them to understand the level that can be reached in Indian classical dance if they keep at it,” Dasgupta explains.

In their humble set-ups, she continues as she describes one school where children currently practise under a shed without concrete flooring, it is difficult to imagine what a career in dance looks like. But watching stalwarts perform in costume under stage lights on the NCPA stage, the children are able to grasp the full scope of an artiste’s world. Simultaneously, they are also invited to the NCPA to showcase what they have learnt throughout the year, instilling in budding dancers regard for the proscenium and an understanding that they are performing on a stage where artistes yearn to appear at least once in their lifetime.

Scope of learning

To further enhance the children’s exposure to classical forms, Nrityaparichay conducts two lecture demonstrations during the school year where they learn from two senior dancers about their artistic journeys. When artistes share their stories during these interactions, children get a glimpse into their world. “Normally, they would see a doctor, a nurse, a teacher in action but they usually don’t get to interact with dancers and understand how they go about their everyday life,” Dasgupta elucidates.

The impact of this learning is palpable. Ruchi, who is now receiving her intermediate training in Manipuri under Latasana Devi, confesses, “Earlier I would be scared of performing or talking about myself onstage, but with every performance, I have been learning the ropes of presenting myself and showcasing the dance form.” When it comes to teaching, she adds with a chuckle, “At first, I didn’t realise how difficult it is for teachers when kids get into mischief but now as a teacher myself, I have started to see that.

Along with training select students to be artistes and performers, Nrityaparichay is also grooming musicians. Dasgupta mentions a student who plays the pung, a Manipuri drum, brilliantly and has what it takes to carve out a career as a musical accompanist providing the dancer with a rhythm.

For her part, Mayuri, who received training under Odissi exponent Sharmistha Chattopadhyay, says that dance has become her way to access a form of knowledge and craft her own identity. Along with performing in several national dance festivals, she imparts basic training in Odissi to youngsters and believes that it is this multi-hued engagement with dance which helps hone herself as an artiste.

The value of learning an art form goes beyond the realm of performance. Children develop concentration and an acute sense of body awareness. They are already quite nimble, but dance enables them to be more agile and quick.

Dasgupta adds that what classical dance training constitutes is a heightened meditative appeal. She explains, “When you dance, you think of one step after another.” This means that the brain is emptied of all other thoughts from the beginning to the end of a choreography, and one’s mind is at rest. It is here that dance no longer remains a skill, especially for children hailing from tough situations. It transcends into a healing, therapeutic practice.